Oikarinen: Could be a tough weekend for da Matta.

Ossi Oikarinen, Cristiano da Matta's race engineer at Panasonic Toyota Racing talks us through the challenges of the Canadian Grand Prix...

"The race at Monaco is normally quite a fun weekend, although admittedly it is invariably quite a hectic one as well, particularly with the added logistical challenges that the venue poses.

Oikarinen: Could be a tough weekend for da Matta.

Ossi Oikarinen, Cristiano da Matta's race engineer at Panasonic Toyota Racing talks us through the challenges of the Canadian Grand Prix...

"The race at Monaco is normally quite a fun weekend, although admittedly it is invariably quite a hectic one as well, particularly with the added logistical challenges that the venue poses.

"The 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is quite a technically challenging circuit, and one which the drivers usually enjoy because it offers some good overtaking opportunities.

"The circuit itself is part-permanent road track, and part street track and comprises low-speed corners preceded by high-speed straights. This makes the track particularly hard on the brakes.

"Cars have to be able to ride the kerbs well, and although the kerbs are not as high as in Imola, they play a crucial factor in setting a quick lap time.

"A good engine can also make a big difference at Montreal, due to the long straights. We are using a new specification RVX-03 engine in Canada this weekend, which we hope will be influential in our performance.

"I think it will be a tough weekend, although Cristiano has prior experience at the track from last year's CART event where he set the pole time and came runner-up in the race. This will be very helpful for us this weekend, because we can really maximise the 60-minute free practice we have on Friday morning, to find a good set-up on the TF103 ahead of the afternoon's first qualifying session.

"The downforce levels in Montreal can be interesting, because you normally run lower downforce in the race to allow overtaking on the long straights. With lower downforce and a strong engine, overtaking is possible, but it means that you could lose out a bit in the middle sector. Alternatively, you can run more downforce and make time up in the middle sector possibly at the expense of not overtaking along the straights. It is a challenge for engineers, but one that should be quite fun.

"Olivier [Panis] worked at last week's Monza test on specific Canadian GP preparations and we found some good results, so we are hopeful of a positive weekend in Montreal, but the overall picture will be clearer at 12:00 on Friday after the free practice session. This one-hour will be critical to how the rest of the weekend unfolds for us."

Ossi Oikarinen.

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